What is MTSS?

At Cogito Academy, we are committed to helping every student grow and succeed. Multi-Tiered System of Supports, or MTSS, is a schoolwide framework that helps us identify each student's strengths and needs and provide the right level of instruction and support at the right time.

MTSS isn't only for students who need extra help. It is for ALL students, including students who are ready for additional challenge and enrichment!

Through assessments, classroom observations, and progress monitoring, our teachers and support team use data to understand how students are learning and determine what they need next. This may mean additional support in a particular skill, a different instructional approach, or opportunities for acceleration, enrichment, and greater academic challenge.

💙 Understanding the Tiers

Tier 1: High-Quality Instruction for ALL Students
Every student begins with high-quality, research-based instruction in the general education classroom. Teachers use student data and differentiated instruction to respond to different learning needs. This includes providing additional support when needed and extending learning for students who are ready to go deeper.

Tier 2: Targeted Support
Some students may need additional targeted instruction or intervention in a small-group setting. Students continue participating in Tier 1 instruction while receiving this extra support, and their progress is monitored more frequently.

Tier 3: More Individualized Support
A smaller number of students may need more intensive, individualized intervention. The MTSS team closely monitors these students' progress and adjusts supports based on their individual needs.

🌟 What About Our High Flyers?

MTSS is about growth for every learner, not just helping students reach grade-level expectations. Students who have already mastered grade-level skills need opportunities to continue growing, too.

For students who demonstrate advanced understanding or quickly master a skill, teachers can use assessment data to determine appropriate next steps. This may include:

More complex or challenging tasks
Opportunities to apply learning in new ways
Deeper exploration of concepts
Flexible grouping based on current learning needs
Enrichment and extension activities
Acceleration when appropriate

Our goal is for every child to experience productive challenge and continued growth, whether they need additional support, are working at grade level, or are ready to move beyond it.

🌱 Students' Needs Can Change

MTSS is flexible. Students are not permanently placed in a tier. Their needs may change throughout the year, and we continually use data to determine whether supports should be increased, decreased, changed, or no longer needed.

Being part of the MTSS process also does not automatically mean that a child has a disability or needs special education. MTSS is a general education framework designed to help us respond to the individual needs of our learners.

💙 Families Are Part of the Team

Families are an important part of MTSS! You know your child in ways that no assessment can capture, and your input helps us see the whole child.

We want to work together to celebrate strengths, identify needs, monitor growth, and determine the best ways to help your child continue learning and thriving.

At Cogito Academy, MTSS helps us ask an important question about every student:

"What does this child need next?" 💜